Major agricultural commodity prices will be mostly flat in 2016, according to USDA, but the agency predicts that food bought for consumption at home will inflate at a higher rate than it did in 2015. 2016: Farms Flat; Groceries Rise Major agricultural commodity prices will be mostly flat in 2016, according to USDA, but the agency predicts that food bought for consumption at home will inflate at a higher rate than it did in 2015. While abundant supplies will keep down commodity prices, downstream processors and suppliers face increased costs from labor, distribution and other inputs. 2015 Top Five The top five WPI articles read in 2015 were: Likely Future Conflicts over Water Ethanol Industry Seeking E30 Under New Fuel Standard There’...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
From WPI Consulting
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.